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American Morning

Watching Julia

Aired April 29, 2003 - 09:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: For years, Julia Louis-Dreyfus has been making us laugh, first on "Saturday Night Live," and then as the incredibly self-absorbed, yet charming, shall we say, but lovable Elaine Bennis (ph) on "Seinfeld" and now as a lounge singer in L.A. in her own sitcom called "Watching Ellie."
Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Wow, look at you. Were you this hot when we were going out? Or did you have some sort of work done?

JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS, ACTRESS: Yes, I had a lot of work done, Edgar.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I thought so. What did do you the...

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Lifts, lips, Boobs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yep.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: The whole deal. And Botox, a whole gallon of Botox.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: We're laughing already. "Watching Ellie" is back for a second season on NBC after a short run last year. The show has undergone a little makeover, shall we say, and the star herself, Julia Louis-Dreyfus with us to talk about that.

Good morning.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Good morning.

KAGAN: A pleasure to meet new person. You've been in my living room for many, many years.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Oh well, it's nice to be here on your set.

KAGAN: Good to be all these places.

"Watching Ellie," if at first you don't get it completely right, you get a second chance to come back and some make changes.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Well, we're on for a second season, so we've made -- not too many changes this season, actually...

KAGAN: Live audience.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: We have an audience this season, and that's really the most notable change.

KAGAN: That helps, and you're trying to do some different things like have the clock, but that went away, the clock on the screen went away last season.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: The clock on the screen went away about halfway through the season last season, because we all found it kind of irritating.

KAGAN: But you tried something new, so good for you.

Yes, also tried doing it with just one camera, but now there's three cameras.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Well, actually there's many cameras. We're doing everything. We're sort of hybrid, because a couple of days a week, we're shooting it single camera, like we did last season, and then we're also shooting it in front of an audience, so we're trying to do it all and make it work.

KAGAN: And doing a big push. And trying to go for that success. So many try to make that -- you had such success with "Seinfeld." That's such a high bar to match, and then people try to come with the "Seinfeld" curse. Do you get sick of that, hearing about that?

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Well, I think it's just of a -- I don't know, a sexy phrase that sort of caught on. I don't think it means anything, really. Except that it's really hard to have success in show business, period.

KAGAN: The odds are so stacked against.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Always, no matter what you're doing. So it's important -- I don't want to say keep it in mind, but that's the reality.

KAGAN: So it's hard enough anyway, there is a lot of pressure. This is a family affair for you. You're doing it with your husband?

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Yes, my husband creates this show, and he's executive the producer, and my sister plays my sister. So, and if my grandmother hadn't passed away, I suppose she would be the show, too.

KAGAN: You'd find work for her as well.

But how is that, keeping it altogether with the family?

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Oh, it's nice. I mean, we're all very close, and it's a very congenial group, and we have -- my husband and I have very similar tastes, and we've got sort of a clear vision for what we want for the show, so it feels good. I think it's just lovely. KAGAN: And then on a personal note, how do you work all day with your husband, your sister, and then you go home and you've got kids, you've got the grocery list to worry about, you've got to decorate the house -- how do you separate those things?

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Well, with some difficulty, but we do it. We, you know, just try to keep work out of the house and keep the groceries in the house.

KAGAN: And just shoot for that high level. Well, good luck with the sitcom. "Watching Ellie" is on tonight on NBC. You want to give us a little preview of what tonight's episode is about?

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Actually, tonight is a particularly funny episode, because Ellie has a date with a guy she hasn't seen in a year that she used to have say crush on and things have changed in a year when she sees him.

KAGAN: That they have. I think that was the clip I think we saw going into the segment. Good luck with that. We'll look for that. It's not even past our bedtime for me and Bill. We can make it up that late. So we appreciate the early evening entertainment.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Oh, you're so welcome. Anything I can do.

KAGAN: Thanks for being with us.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired April 29, 2003 - 09:48   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: For years, Julia Louis-Dreyfus has been making us laugh, first on "Saturday Night Live," and then as the incredibly self-absorbed, yet charming, shall we say, but lovable Elaine Bennis (ph) on "Seinfeld" and now as a lounge singer in L.A. in her own sitcom called "Watching Ellie."
Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Wow, look at you. Were you this hot when we were going out? Or did you have some sort of work done?

JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS, ACTRESS: Yes, I had a lot of work done, Edgar.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I thought so. What did do you the...

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Lifts, lips, Boobs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yep.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: The whole deal. And Botox, a whole gallon of Botox.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: We're laughing already. "Watching Ellie" is back for a second season on NBC after a short run last year. The show has undergone a little makeover, shall we say, and the star herself, Julia Louis-Dreyfus with us to talk about that.

Good morning.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Good morning.

KAGAN: A pleasure to meet new person. You've been in my living room for many, many years.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Oh well, it's nice to be here on your set.

KAGAN: Good to be all these places.

"Watching Ellie," if at first you don't get it completely right, you get a second chance to come back and some make changes.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Well, we're on for a second season, so we've made -- not too many changes this season, actually...

KAGAN: Live audience.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: We have an audience this season, and that's really the most notable change.

KAGAN: That helps, and you're trying to do some different things like have the clock, but that went away, the clock on the screen went away last season.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: The clock on the screen went away about halfway through the season last season, because we all found it kind of irritating.

KAGAN: But you tried something new, so good for you.

Yes, also tried doing it with just one camera, but now there's three cameras.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Well, actually there's many cameras. We're doing everything. We're sort of hybrid, because a couple of days a week, we're shooting it single camera, like we did last season, and then we're also shooting it in front of an audience, so we're trying to do it all and make it work.

KAGAN: And doing a big push. And trying to go for that success. So many try to make that -- you had such success with "Seinfeld." That's such a high bar to match, and then people try to come with the "Seinfeld" curse. Do you get sick of that, hearing about that?

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Well, I think it's just of a -- I don't know, a sexy phrase that sort of caught on. I don't think it means anything, really. Except that it's really hard to have success in show business, period.

KAGAN: The odds are so stacked against.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Always, no matter what you're doing. So it's important -- I don't want to say keep it in mind, but that's the reality.

KAGAN: So it's hard enough anyway, there is a lot of pressure. This is a family affair for you. You're doing it with your husband?

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Yes, my husband creates this show, and he's executive the producer, and my sister plays my sister. So, and if my grandmother hadn't passed away, I suppose she would be the show, too.

KAGAN: You'd find work for her as well.

But how is that, keeping it altogether with the family?

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Oh, it's nice. I mean, we're all very close, and it's a very congenial group, and we have -- my husband and I have very similar tastes, and we've got sort of a clear vision for what we want for the show, so it feels good. I think it's just lovely. KAGAN: And then on a personal note, how do you work all day with your husband, your sister, and then you go home and you've got kids, you've got the grocery list to worry about, you've got to decorate the house -- how do you separate those things?

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Well, with some difficulty, but we do it. We, you know, just try to keep work out of the house and keep the groceries in the house.

KAGAN: And just shoot for that high level. Well, good luck with the sitcom. "Watching Ellie" is on tonight on NBC. You want to give us a little preview of what tonight's episode is about?

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Actually, tonight is a particularly funny episode, because Ellie has a date with a guy she hasn't seen in a year that she used to have say crush on and things have changed in a year when she sees him.

KAGAN: That they have. I think that was the clip I think we saw going into the segment. Good luck with that. We'll look for that. It's not even past our bedtime for me and Bill. We can make it up that late. So we appreciate the early evening entertainment.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Oh, you're so welcome. Anything I can do.

KAGAN: Thanks for being with us.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com